Cosimia Spiros was not a huge fan of winter, that much was true. Growing up in Mykonos, Greece, the winters meant much different than it meant to those in Scotland. In Mykonos, the temperature would dropped, but not significantly and the idea of their being snow was merely a dream. Although Cosimia had traveled much before she came to Hogwarts for schooling, she had yet to experience the snow that occurred during this time of year. Even to the stubborn sea creature, it was hard to deny that the winters at Hogwarts could be quite beautiful. It made for a beautiful picture of the castle, and even Cosimia couldn't deny that. When the first snowfall had arrived at Hogwarts, most of the students had made their way outside to enjoy the freshly fallen snow. The grounds were covered with students, young and old, jumping around and attempting to build snow men. Some of them even dared to throw snowballs at each other. Cosimia couldn't be bothered with such gatherings, and waited up in the Ravenclaw tower until well after dinner time, when darkness fell, to go explore outside.

While most of the students were throwing off their winter clothes and getting warmed by the fire, Cosimia was bundling up and getting ready to go outside. She chose a rather warm and stylish winter sweater, one that her mother had bought her on a trip to France. Although her boots were fashionable, they were lined with fur that were sure to keep her thin legs warms. She stuffed her wand into the back of her blue jeans, and put her sweater over the part that was sticking out. She moved swiftly past her housemates, ignoring any of their questions that they may be asking. She knew that if she were going to get outside, she had to sneak out, and she wasn't going to let anyone ruin that. She left the tower and glided through the castle, and if anyone asked, she was simply on her way to the library to get some studying done over the winter break. What a joke.

Cosimia didn't use the big doors that lead out to the courtyard, no, she chose to use the exit through the kitchens. After what seemed like hours, Cosimia found herself stepping on the fresh snow and making her way to the courtyard to find some peace and quiet. The snow was falling still, but had slowed to a light flurry. She brushed the snow off the bench and sat down, scanning the quiet courtyard for any visitors. There is nothing quite like the silence that came with snow. It was as if the world stopped moving. It was both quiet and peaceful, and something that Cosimia was ready to take in.

Cosimia tensed, feeling the presence of someone else in the dimly lit courtyard. Their were only two light sources in the courtyard, illuminating the bench and only about ten feet around in diameter. She shot up from the bench and held her wand tightly to her side, nervous that the intruder was a threat.

"I know you're there. Come out!" Cosimia yelled to the darkness, attempting to sound strong and poised, although all she wanted to do was run in the opposite direction.

Despite looking rather like a human incarnation of Jack Frost, what with his silvery blond hair and ice blue eyes, Sébastien was a proud opponent of the cold, and all things related to it. Nearly seven whole years at Hogwarts had yet to change his mind; the minute he felt his first chill, the minute the first flake fell, Baz was hellbent on being offended by every possible thing, regardless of whether it was related to the actual winter or not. It was stupid, it was cold, and furthermore, it was just a thoroughly unnecessary season. Was fall not enough to let the earth get a reset before it had to wake up and grow things again? Laziness, sheer laziness, that's what that was.

And yet here he was, out in his most hated environment, kicking chunks of icy snow with the toe of his boot. It was cold, yes, and he was miserable, but any environment was far preferable to being stuck in the common room or in his dormitory, unable to escape from the inane chatter that his fellow students seemed to be so fond of. It was just so silly, so unimportant, so full of who was dating who and who didn't want to do their homework and who thought their dress robes made them look fat and should they have them tailored because they had some super important super awesome thing to go to and they wanted to look nice for it? It was enough to make Baz gag.

Hence his break for freedom in the icy white wilderness that was the Hogwarts grounds.

Here, at least, it was quiet. Sébastien allowed his eyes to adjust, then slowed his pace, shoving his gloved hands deep into his coat pockets to protect them from the cold. Why, if Hogwarts was so magical, were they not more invested in keeping their grounds temperature controlled? Surely there was a spell for that.... Baz made a mental note to look it up as soon as he returned to his dungeon home. No doubt there was some sort of silencing charm too... Not one that silenced everyone, but made it so that Baz in particular did not have to listen to them. He could sit back, do his homework, enjoy the drama, all in blissful silence.

Ah, what a dream to have.

Even out here in the dark and cold, it wasn't enough to keep him away from the sounds completely. No, now there was a girl shrieking, her voice shrill and irritating and sending a knifelike stab into Sébastien's brain. "Excuse me, I did not realize they allowed banshees onto the ground," he commented coolly, even as he did as she had so rudely ordered and stepped into better lighting. "Kindly lower your voice a bit, you will wake up the entire castle." The Slytherin appraised his newfound companion, his expression showing no emotion except disinterest. Blonde. Doll like. Generic. He was certain he would not remember her even if he had seen her one hundred times. She was thoroughly forgettable. And that was being generous.

Wishing that she had chosen to wear gloves, the Ravenclaw witch kept her arm outstretched with her fingers gripped to her wand. She squinted her eyes at the stranger, as if she couldn't see him. Had he really dismissed her that quickly? Already counted her out as being unimportant? Cosimia couldn't believe it. She recognized him, possibly from sharing a classroom or two with him, but she had never really looked at him. Sure, he was handsome, with his light hair and fair skin, but Cosimia had never really focused enough attention on him. Surely, she could not do the same now. In all fairness, his complexion, hair and the snow seemed to all blur into one shade, even though that wasn't quite possible. Maybe that was white she was squinting? All the bright white can really do a number on your eyes sight.

Banshees? Did he really just call her a shrieking animal? The sea creature was infuriated.

Taking a deep breath, in order to properly assess the situation in front of her, Cosimia smirked slightly at the boy. "And I didn't know snowmen could talk." She rolled her eyes before lowering her arm. Of course the boy was not a snowman, but his features definitely reminded Cosimia of one, if not for the fact that they were outside in a lightly covered snow. If she had seen him in the castle, she probably wouldn't have felt that way. But of course, things happen for a reason. If the Ravenclaw was being honest, and not confronted by the boy in such a rude and uncomfortable manner, she would agree that his features were quite beautiful. There was something about him that intrigued the sea creature, but she couldn't put her finger on it just yet. For the moment, all she could think about was how annoyed she was that he disturbed her peacefulness. She didn't come out here to be questioned by an arrogant jerk, nor would she allow him to completely ruin her time.

Sitting down down on the bench, Cosimia ignored the cool filling of wet snow that covered her bottom. She must have been standing for quite a few minutes, leaving a small centimeter of snow on the bench behind her. Brushing a piece of fallen snow from her eye, she placed her wand back onto the bench and sighed. "You can carry on now. Nothing to see here," Cosimia hoped that he would leave, but she also secretly hoped that he would stay. Although she was a solitary creature by nature, she was also one of habit. Over the past few years at Hogwarts, she had grown quite fond of arrogant banter between herself and other students. She could name a few feuds off the top of her head that also seemed to cause her a mixture of angry and happiness after they were over. She liked confrontation, even though she would say otherwise.

It made her feel important. It made her feel in control and powerful. She wanted to dominant over this boy, and show him that no one could talk to her that way.

"I have no money to give you, if you're here to beg. I already donated to the less fortunate this Holiday season." Cosimia wiped her head to the side, looking away from the boy and crossing her legs. Maybe he would leave, or maybe he would stay. Either way, she wasn't going to let this get her down. She kept a small smirk on her face, as she tapped her cold, reddened fingers on the bench, covering them in snow. Surely she would get frostbite if she didn't put her small hand in her pocket soon.

But for now, she was just trying to look like an arrogant, stuck up Pureblood witch. I'd say she was doing a hell of a job.

A snowman? Bloody creative, that. Sébastien raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the girl, letting his gaze drop, looking her up and down. At the very least, she had the courtesy to lower her arm, which proved that someone had taught her some sort of manners. Not good ones, perhaps, and certainly they had neglected to teach her how to properly insult someone without making herself sound like an idiot, but she had learned something. Don't shine a light in someone's eyes. Easy. Baz had learned such things at the tender age of, what, three? It was right up there with "don't scream in someone's ear" and "don't throw food." If he had to hazard a guess, he would guess that this banshee did both of those and likely didn't even give either a second thought. Peasants. What could you do, right?

Coolly, Baz leaned back against a stone post, folding his arms over his chest. There was something about this altitude that gave him a sense of comfort. Not a sense of superiority, necessarily - rather, as a person who felt as if he had to spend every minute of every day fighting to keep up a mask, to make himself feel equal to his classmates, it was nice to have two seconds where he could just breathe. The hard lines of his features relaxed momentarily, his shoulders unwinding... But nearly as soon as the walls fell, they soared back up, just as hard and impenetrable as before. Only those who had proven their worth could be allowed in. And this girl, this creature, was not one of those people. In fact, she had done the opposite. She had called him a snowman, displayed horrendous manners, and made the Slytherin feel as if he needed to talk very slowly in order for her to comprehend a single word.

"Oh darling, I definitely don't need money, and certainly not your money." Baz gave her a sweet smile, icy eyes flashing momentarily. There was a part of him, a very small, very silly part, that wished he could be having a different conversation. Seven years spent with few friends, no significant others, and having little in his life other than class and homework made for a rather lonely time. And he liked it. Didn't he? Being on his own meant that he would never have to endure the ridiculous drama that always seemed to run rampant in the Hogwarts halls. As someone who preferred to stay out of the spotlight, avoiding drama was not something that the pale blond would ever really complain about. Still. It would be nice to have a girl look at him with something other than distaste in her eyes. Or for him to feel anything other than distaste toward her. Not that he was part of the problem though, of course not. Of all the irrational things to suggest, honestly.

Cosimia twitched slightly, hearing his response to her obvious nasty remark that clearly was not taken the way that she had intended. At first she was going to ignore him, hoping that he would walk away and leave her be. Another part of her liked the interaction, for which she had no idea why. She recognized the boy, clearly being someone in her same year and in some of her classes. If she was given five different names, she was almost positive she would be able to figure out his, but alas, that wasn't the case. She couldn't pull it out of thin air. It wasn't until now that he was front and center, and as much as she hated to admit it, he looked good in that position. How had she not seen him before? She so quickly looked past him in the hallways maybe a thousand times, but now he was here. And damn, wait a gorgeous creature he was.

Cosimia pushed away those thoughts, because for now, he was annoying her.

Cosimia looked over at him, catching him just in the beginning of his sweet smile, causing the girl to roll her eyes. His position against the post was so relaxed and care-free, it made the Ravenclaw girl's blood boil. He clearly wasn't taking her seriously, nor was he annoyed by her own remarks in an attempt to piss him off. This might have been the first time in a long time, that instead of someone showing some emotion of anger or annoyance to her arrogant and self-centered attitude, they were simply brushing her off and finding her slightly amusing. Who the hell was this guy? The sea creature was ready to strangle him. It never used to take this much work to piss someone off. A part of her was intrigued by him, but a bigger part of him was furious.

"Listen, I don't know what you think this is, but I came out here to be alone." The sea creature hissed at him, turning slightly in her position on the bench in order to turn away from him. She had come out here to think about Apollo, and her somber and sad moment was interrupted by this boy. Suddenly, she remembered his name. Groaning, she snapped her head back in his direction, narrowing her eyes, a pissed off expression on her face.

"You're Sébastien Beaumont. My date for the XOXO event." Cosimia rolled her eyes once more, brushing a piece of blonde hair behind her ear and straightening up slightly. "You don't have to go, if you don't want to. We can both say we are sick." Cosimia replied, but secretly hoped he would refuse. For some reason, she was both happy and angry she was matched up with this arrogant Slytherin boy.